Indigenous All-Stars (Australian rules football)

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Not to be confused with Indigenous All Stars (rugby league).

Indigenous All-Stars
Names
Full nameIndigenous All-Stars
Nickname(s)All Stars
Club details
Founded1973
Colours  Black   Red   Gold
Ground(s)Marrara Oval, Darwin (capacity: 15,000)
 Traeger Park, Alice Springs
Other information
Official website[1]

The Indigenous All-Stars (known as for sponsorship reasons Qantas Kickstart Indigenous All-Stars and formerly known as the Aboriginal All-Stars) is an Australian rules football team composed of players that identify as Indigenous Australian or with an indigenous culture.

The team has also represented Australia (in 2013) in the International Rules Series.[1] The junior (U18 and U16) side is known as the Flying Boomerangs.

The team was originally based on Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, but have been based in Darwin, Northern Territory since 1993.

The AFL promotes the concept as recognition of the indigenous Australians' contribution to the national competition, with approximately one in ten AFL players identifying as an Indigenous Australian.[2]

The AFL has been criticised for letting its clubs prevent the All-Stars from selecting its top Indigenous senior players, or for placing restrictions on their game time. Additionally, the competing club side often treats the match as a preseason practice match, such that winning the match is less important than developing young players or building match fitness prior to the regular season. Despite this, the match remains popular with spectators in the Northern Territory.

The best on ground for the Indigenous All-Stars is awarded the Polly Farmer Medal which is in honour of Graham Farmer.

In 2018, the AFL created an All-Indigenous "All-Star" AFLX 8 player team named "Deadly" captained by Indigenous All-Star Eddie Betts. This team played in the 2019 AFLX tournament winning 1 of its 3 matches. However the AFLX format was widely criticised[3][4] as an unsuitable replacement for Australian rules matches and was soon abandoned.

History[]

2005 Polly Farmer medallist Daniel Wells.
2003, 2007 and 2009 captain Andrew McLeod.
2015 captain Shaun Burgoyne.

All-indigenous sides have been documented as early the turn of the 20th Century[5] and the first representative teams began playing matches after World War II.[6]

An All-Aboriginal team defeated the Australian Capital Territory at Manuka Oval in Canberra in 1970.[7]

In 1973, a team was assembled from the best indigenous Australians across all states and territories to tour Papua New Guinea and play against the Papua New Guinea team. Sir Douglas Nicholls accompanied the side. The Australian side lost narrowly and a return match in Australia was scheduled for an Aboriginal Australian Rules carnival to be hosted by the Australian Capital Territory[8] Papua New Guinea narrowly defeated the Indigenous Australian side at Ainslie Oval.[9][10]

In 1983 the "All-Stars" competed in a once-off post-season exhibition match in Mildura, two games were played in 1985 and another once-off game was played in 1994. Since 2003, the team has played a regular biennial pre-season match against an Australian Football League (AFL) club; the only exception was in 2011, when the scheduled match was cancelled due to inclement weather. The matches are usually played in the Northern Territory, either at Marrara Oval in Darwin or Traeger Park in Alice Springs.

A match between the All-Stars and The Swans was proposed for Canberra in 1984, to be organised by the National Football League[11] but did not go ahead.

The 1993 a bi-annual All-Stars vs Collingwood match was proposed.[12]

In 1994 disputes over player releases put the concept into doubt. The St Kilda Football Club refused to release Nicky Winmar and the West Coast Eagles refused to release Chris Lewis to play.[13]

As of 2015, the All-Stars have won six of the ten matches it has played. The record attendance for the match was 17,500, in the 2003 match against Carlton at Marrara Oval. The AFL in 2017 committed to holding a match featuring the All-Stars every four years.[14]

Postponing a proposed 2019 match, the AFL Players' Association's Indigenous members which manage the team decided in 2017 that the match should be scheduled for every 4 years instead of 2.[15]

In 2018, the AFL created an All-Indigenous "All-Star" AFLX 8 player team named "Deadly" captained by Indigenous All-Star Eddie Betts. This team played in the 2019 AFLX tournament winning 1 of its 3 matches. However the AFLX format was widely criticised[16][17] as an unsuitable replacement for Australian rules matches and was soon abandoned.

Sponsorship and naming rights[]

Until 2005 the All-Stars were sponsored by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, who had naming rights over the team. After the abolition of ATSIC, the team was renamed from Aboriginal All-Stars to Indigenous All-Stars. Since 2006 the team has been sponsored by Qantas through the AFL Kickstart indigenous program.

Results[]

Matches
Year Date Opponent Result Stadium Captain (vice-captain) Coach Best (Polly Farmer Medal) Crowd
1973 3 October Lae, Papua New Guinea Lae 9.12 (66) def All-Stars 9.8 (62) Lae, Papua New Guinea Ray Rigney Dennis Archee
1973 7 October Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea 17.19 (121) def All-Stars 12.18 (90) Sir Hubert Murray Stadium, Port Moresby Ray Rigney Leo Wanganeen[18] 6,000[19]
1974 6 October Papua New Guinea All-Stars 12.12 (82) def. by Papua New Guinea 11.13 (89) Ainslie Oval, Canberra Ray Rigney Ralph White[20]
1983 1 October Richmond Football Club/Mildura All-Stars 37.11 (233) , Mildura Stephen Michael[21] Michael Wanganeen[22] Rex Handy 3,500
1985 16 February Essendon Essendon 13.20 (98) def All-Stars 11.16 (82) Tatura Stephen Michael[23] [24] Unknown 6,000
1985 13 September Premier's All Stars 23.12 (150) def All-Stars 10.8 (68) MCG Maurice Rioli[25] Syd Jackson[26] Ian Barry 5,333
1994 12 February Collingwood Football Club All-Stars 13.10 (88) def Collingwood 10.8 (68) Marrara Oval, Darwin Michael McLean[27] Maurice Rioli Fabian Francis 15,000
2003 7 February Carlton Football Club All-Stars 19.16 (130) def Carlton 8.9 (57) Marrara Oval, Darwin Andrew McLeod Michael McLean Adam Goodes 17,500
2005 5 February Western Bulldogs All-Stars 12.19 (91) def Western Bulldogs 10.3 (63) Marrara Oval, Darwin Darryl White (Chris Johnson) Michael McLean Daniel Wells 8,500
2007 11 February Essendon Football Club Essendon 14.9 (93) def All-Stars 6.7 (43) Marrara Oval, Darwin Andrew McLeod Michael McLean Andrew McLeod 13,119
2009 7 February Adelaide Crows All-Stars 14.13 (97) def Adelaide 6.7 (43) Marrara Oval, Darwin Andrew McLeod (Shaun Burgoyne) Chris Johnson Matt Campbell 9,497
2011 4 February Richmond Football Club Match cancelled due to inclement weather N/A Adam Goodes Michael O'Loughlin N/A N/A
2013 8 February Richmond Football Club All-Stars 14.6 (90) def Richmond 6.4 (40)[28] Traeger Park, Alice Springs Nathan Lovett-Murray[29] Michael O'Loughlin Harley Bennell 8,350
2015 20 February West Coast Eagles All-Stars 5.11 (41) def. by West Coast 7.7 (49)[30] Leederville Oval, Perth Shaun Burgoyne (Jarrod Harbrow)[31] Andy Lovell Shaun Burgoyne 10,000

Squads[]

1973 team[]

Riger Rigney (SA); Michael Mansell (Tas); Anthony Miller (WA); Brian Warrior (SA); Dennis Lewfat (NT); Patrick Purantatameri (NT); Reg Mathews (QLD); Bill Ellis (NT); John McHenry (WA); Leon Wanganeen (SA); Alec Smith (Vic); John Pepperill (NT); Phillip Archer (SA); Ian Charles (VIC); Robbie Muir (VIC); Ken Liddle (NT); Wilfred Wilson (SA); Tim Agius (SA); Garry Murray (VIC); Paul Hansen (WA); Lloyd Bray (NT)[32]

International Rules[]

The Indigenous All Stars have also competed in the annual International Rules Series, representing Australia in the hybrid sport which consists elements of Gaelic football and Australian rules football. For the 2013 Series a 33-man squad was chosen, which was reduced to 21-man touring party:

The Indigenous team lost the series 2-0 and by a record 173–72 aggregate point margin.

Polly Farmer Medal[]

The Polly Farmer Medal is awarded each game to the best Indigenous All-Stars player.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Indigenous All Stars to Represent Australia in 2013 International Rules Series
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 June 2004. Retrieved 18 May 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ Jackson Ryan (16 December 2018). "The AFLX Is The Greatest Farce In Professional Sport". Ten Daily.
  4. ^ Alana Schetzer (17 December 2018). "Not even superpowers can give soulless AFLX what it most needs". The Guardian.
  5. ^ Indigenous influence on AFL creation confirmed by historical transcripts, historian says Malcolm Sutton ABC News 13 Apr 2017
  6. ^ Golden age of Indigenous Aussie Rules in Victoria beckons Patrick Skene for The Guardian 13 Nov 2014 07.31 AEDT
  7. ^ {cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107921255 |title=Aboriginal rules side outclasses ACT |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=44, |issue=12,603 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=23 April 1970 |accessdate=13 November 2021 |page=34 |via=National Library of Australia}}
  8. ^ Aboriginal carnival in ACT. The Canberra Times 4 Oct 1974 Page 18
  9. ^ pg.10 The Canberra Times Mon 7 Oct 1974
  10. ^ PNG defeats Aborigines. The Canberra Times 7 Oct 1974 Page 10
  11. ^ "AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL VFL side to play in Canberra". The Canberra Times. Vol. 58, no. 17, 646. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 21 January 1984. p. 46. Retrieved 13 December 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "Saturday Magazine". The Canberra Times. Vol. 67, no. 21, 214. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 15 May 1993. p. 1 (SECTION 1). Retrieved 13 December 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ "Two AFL clubs reject plea to free players". The Canberra Times. Vol. 68, no. 21, 469. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 26 January 1994. p. 34. Retrieved 13 December 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ^ AFL Indigenous All-Stars match postponed until 2019 as focus turns to AFLPA camp
  15. ^ AFL Indigenous All-Stars match postponed until 2019 as focus turns to AFLPA camp By Daniel Cherny for The Age January 28, 2017
  16. ^ Jackson Ryan (16 December 2018). "The AFLX Is The Greatest Farce In Professional Sport". Ten Daily.
  17. ^ Alana Schetzer (17 December 2018). "Not even superpowers can give soulless AFLX what it most needs". The Guardian.
  18. ^ PNG too good for Aboriginal side in rules match. Papua New Guinea Post-Courier 8 Oct 1973 Page 22
  19. ^ Good win to PNG in rules game (1973, October 8). Papua New Guinea Post-Courier (Port Moresby : 1969 - 1981), p. 22. Retrieved September 24, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article251224970
  20. ^ PNG defeats Aborigines. The Canberra Times 7 Oct 1974 Page 10
  21. ^ "Yorke Peninsula Country Times".
  22. ^ "Span stylecolor0000FF1983 vs. Richmond Meet footballs first Aboriginal All-Stars - Aboriginal Football".
  23. ^ https://www.mcc.org.au/_/media/files/mcc/library/2016_05_28_rd10_essvrich_dreamt.pdf?la=en
  24. ^ https://www.mcc.org.au/_/media/files/mcc/library/2016_05_28_rd10_essvrich_dreamt.pdf?la=en
  25. ^ https://www.mcc.org.au/_/media/files/mcc/library/2016_05_28_rd10_essvrich_dreamt.pdf?la=en
  26. ^ https://www.mcc.org.au/_/media/files/mcc/library/2016_05_28_rd10_essvrich_dreamt.pdf?la=en
  27. ^ afl.com.au
  28. ^ Edmund, Sam (9 February 2013). "Embarrassing Richmond no match for indigenous hunger, speed". Herald Sun. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  29. ^ Ryan, Peter (7 February 2013). "Youngers head up All-Stars squad". Australian Football League. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  30. ^ Malcom, Alex (20 February 2015). "Eagles edge out All Stars as Wellingham, Burgoyne dominate". AFL.com.au. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  31. ^ "2015 Indigenous All Stars Team details". Triple M. 19 February 2015. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  32. ^ "Rules side looks good". Papua New Guinea Post-courier. International, Australia. 3 October 1973. p. 36. Retrieved 13 November 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
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